Little Fingers Preschool & Out of School Club

Inspection of Little Fingers Preschool & Out of School Club Shree Ram Krishna Community Projects, Alfred Street, LOUGHBOROUGH, Leicestershire LE11 1NG

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Overall effectiveness Inadequate

The quality of education Inadequate Behaviour and attitudes Inadequate Personal development Inadequate Leadership and management Inadequate Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

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The provision is inadequate

Children's safety and welfare are potentially compromised at this pre-school. The provider and manager do not ensure that staff understand how to safeguard children and promote their good health. Staff do not ensure children have daily access to planned outdoor activities. Children are unable to play outside as the outdoor area is not safely maintained by staff. Children's absences are not monitored or questioned by the manager or staff to ensure they are safe.

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The provision is inadequate

Children do not benefit from a well-planned curriculum. This means activities planned by staff do not match children's age or ability. Children make poor progress due to the manager's and staff's lack of understanding of how children learn and develop. For example, children who are not yet three years old are expected to attempt to form letters in a workbook. Children are not supported to gain knowledge and understanding during their chosen activities. This is because staff fail to support them in their learning. When children play with the cars, staff sit and watch them, when they do engage they only use single words, such as 'car' or 'red'. This does not help children to make progress or support their speaking skills, particularly children who speak English as an additional language. The manager and staff do not recognise children who may have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). This means any additional support children may

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The provision is inadequate

require is not provided. Arrangements for the supervision of staff to support, coach and help them develop their teaching practice are not in place. Children are not allocated a required key person to support their individual needs. Nevertheless, children have positive relationships with staff, who are kind and caring towards them.

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need to do better?

n The manager does not complete staff supervision or address weaknesses in teaching. She does not identify gaps in the staff's knowledge and skills. Additionally, the manager has not identified significant weaknesses in some staff's knowledge of child protection procedures, including the 'Prevent' duty or how best to support children with SEND. This impacts the safety and welfare of children, as well as delaying any additional support they may need. n The manager and staff do not ensure the outside play area is maintained appropriately. They do not carry out risk assessments to identify and minimise hazards. Rusty nails, broken equipment, holes in fencing, slippery surfaces and hazardous plants are accessible to children. These pose a risk to children's safety. The manager states this area is currently not used, but staff state it has been used recently. Furthermore, children are not provided with daily access to

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need to do better?

the outdoors, which is a requirement of registration. n The manager allows staff to use their mobile telephones to take photographs of

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need to do better?

12 January 2023 children, which they send to the children's parents. The manager and staff did not seek written consent from parents to allow this to happen, which is a breach of their policy. The manager does not assure these photographs taken of children are disposed of appropriately. Therefore, this has the potential to impact children's safety and welfare. n The manager does not monitor children's unexplained absences to safeguard their welfare. Children attend sporadically. The manager and staff do not believe this to be an issue and state that this is due to parental choice. The pre-school does, however, have an obligation to monitor the attendance of children, asking parents why children are not attending to ensure they are safe. n The manager has not obtained the contact information for every child in the pre- school. This means that should she need to get in touch with parents, for example should a child be taken ill, this would delay this process.

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need to do better?

n Parents are complimentary about the staff and the flexible service the pre-school offer to their children. They comment that their children are happy and well cared for. However, not all children have an identified key person. This means staff do not understand how best to support individual children's care and learning needs. n The curriculum is poorly designed and implemented. The staff's teaching is poor. Children do not receive broad or varied play experiences. This leads to children not being stimulated or encouraged to try new and interesting activities. The manager and staff are not clear on how to help children learn. They have a poor understanding of how children develop. Their expectations are unrealistic and do not reflect children's age, stage of development or ability. Children's progress is poor because of this. n All children who attend the pre-school speak English as an additional language.

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need to do better?

Staff are aware of this, and some speak the additional languages children have. However, the curriculum to aid children's speaking skills is weak. When staff play with children, they use little communication, often only using single words. This does not help children to widen their vocabulary or learn how to use sentences. As a result, children's speaking skills are not strong. n The manager does not have a good enough understanding of how to use additional funding for children, such as early years pupil premium. This means that for those children who receive this, the manager does not use it effectively to support their individual learning needs.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are not effective.

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Safeguarding

Children's safety and well-being are not completely assured. Staff do not understand how to safeguard children. All staff have completed up-to-date training in child protection. However, they struggle to explain the signs and symptoms of abuse or identify when a child may be at risk of harm. Furthermore, the manager does not monitor the attendance of children or follow up on any unexplained absences to ensure they are safe. Risk assessments are ineffective and do not identify risks to children in the garden area. This impacts negatively on children's

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Safeguarding

12 January 2023 safety and welfare. Recruitment procedures are appropriate to ensure all those working with children are safe and suitable.

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Due date

ensure all those working with children have a thorough understanding of the safeguarding policy and procedure in order to be able to identify children who may be at risk of harm, including children who may be at risk of radicalisation or extreme behaviours 06/02/2023

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Due date

ensure systems are in place to accurately identify and support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) to allow them to access planned, high-quality learning experiences tailored to their individual needs 06/02/2023

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Due date

put effective arrangements in place for the supervision of staff to support, coach and train them to develop their teaching skills 06/02/2023

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Due date

ensure risk assessments are robust and identify and minimise potential hazards, with particular regard to the outside play area 06/02/2023

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Due date

ensure all children have daily access to the outdoors for fresh air and exercise 06/02/2023

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Due date

implement effective risk assessments for the use of mobile telephones to take photographs of children 06/02/2023

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Due date

monitor children's regular attendance at the pre-school and follow up any unexplained absences 06/02/2023

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Due date

12 January 2023 ensure information is sourced from parents before children begin at the pre- school regarding their name, address, date of birth, and name and address of every parent and/or carer 06/02/2023

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Due date

assign every child a key person to ensure children's learning needs are known and supported 06/02/2023

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Due date

ensure the manager and staff develop their knowledge and understanding of how to help children learn and develop in order to offer quality learning and development experiences for all children. 22/02/2023

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Due date

implement an ambitious curriculum that considers the individual needs and stages of development of all children in order for them to make at least good progress 22/02/2023

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Due date

ensure staff help every child to develop their communication and language skills effectively, particularly those who speak English as an additional language 22/02/2023

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Due date

ensure that any additional funding, such as early years pupil premium, is used appropriately. 22/02/2023

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY398605 Local authority Leicestershire Inspection number 10263495 Type of provision Childcare on non-domestic premises

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Registers

Early Years Register, Compulsory Childcare Register, Voluntary Childcare Register Day care type Sessional day care

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inspection

Total number of places 24 Number of children on roll 12 Name of registered person Shree Ram Krishna Community Project

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reference number

Telephone number 01509 232401 Date of previous inspection 3 May 2017

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Information about this early years setting

Little Fingers Preschool & Out of School Club registered in 2010 and is located in Loughborough, Leicestershire. The pre-school employs five members of childcare staff, all of whom hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3 or above. The pre-school opens Monday to Friday, during term time only. Sessions are from 9am until 3.30pm. The pre-school provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children.

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Inspection activities

n This was the first routine inspection the provider received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with the provider and has taken that into account in their evaluation of the provider. n The manager joined the inspector on a learning walk and talked to the inspector about the curriculum and what she wants children to learn. n The inspector viewed the pre-school and discussed the safety and suitability of the premises with the manager. n The inspector talked to staff at appropriate times during the inspection and took account of their views. n The inspector spoke to children to find out about their time at the pre-school. n The manager and the inspector carried out two joint observations together. n The inspector spoke to a number of parents to gain their views. n The inspector looked at relevant documentation and reviewed evidence of the suitability of staff working in the pre-school.

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Inspection activities

We carried out this inspection under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 on the quality and standards of provision that is registered on the Early Years Register. The registered person must ensure that this provision complies with the statutory framework for children's learning, development and care, known as the early years foundation stage.

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Inspection activities

12 January 2023 regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children's services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspection activities

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Inspection activities

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Inspection activities

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Inspection activities

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